Portugal pay-TV penetration drops

An estimated 2.9 million Portuguese households subscribed to pay-TV services at the end of August 2013.

According to the Marktest Telecommunications Barometer, this equates to a 71.3 per cent penetration rate for pay-TV services, which represents a drop from the end of last year when the figure stood at 72.5 per cent.

This is the first time that the pay-TV penetration rate has dropped in the country since 2006. However, the total number of subscribers was up 54 per cent on 2006 figures.

Zon Multimedia is the still the largest pay-TV operator, followed by Portugal Telecom (Meo), and the two companies control the largest market share.